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The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.
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Country
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Surface Area: 1,972,550 square km
Population: 104,959,594 (July 2004 est.)
Located in: North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico
Capital City: Mexico
Head of State: Vicente FOX Quesada
Prime Minister: Vicente FOX Quesada
Independent since: 16 September 1810 (from Spain)
Currency: Mexican peso (MXN)
Flag (image): 
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